If it ain’t broke….

…don’t try to fix it!!!

I don’t mind change but I hate change for the sake of it.  I regularly proclaim my love of online shopping and how I may never set foot inside a supermarket again.  One of the things I hate about food stores is how the stores love to move things around.  I’m sure the store manager sees it as a way to get me to look at different things or perhaps it’s just his idea of a childish prank (like when my brother used to hide my shoes).  I see it as the store manager deliberately trying to frustrate my plans to get in and out as fast as possible.  In my head, he’s watching me on CCTV laughing at my frantic attempt to find where he’s hidden the milk aisle.  It was here yesterday!!!

Of course if is broken, do fix it, but how soon depends on what it is.  Some things can wait (a dripping tap won’t kill you); other things can’t (faulty breaks might!)

Just as important as getting it fixed is getting the right support to fix it.  No point in doing it yourself if you’re going to make it worse (I saw a great sign on an electricians website that read “we mend the things that your husband has already fixed!”). This week I have been advising a man who was put through a disciplinary process by a large established company who did not understand the process and had got it horribly wrong, and we were fast heading for a Tribunal.  Eventually good sense prevailed.  My client was fully exonerated and has been reinstated.  Nevertheless a huge amount of time and money has been wasted on both sides all of which could have been avoided if the employer had taken advice in the first place.  I get great satisfaction out of the fact that we got to what I believe is the right result in the end but I would have gained more satisfaction out of helping the company understand the process at the outset.

If you have staff and you would like to know how to deal with disciplinary and grievances procedures drop me a line at stephanie@kleymansolicitors.com.  We can work out together if it needs fixing or not.  Oh and if anyone at my clients employers are reading this (if they are they’ll know who I mean!) then I can’t help you but I can someone who can!

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  Good at finding milk, shoes and working solutions for clients!